Alejandro Garcia Aviles-Two Astromagical Manuscripts of Alfonso X

Two Astromagical Manuscripts of Alfonso XAuthor(s): Alejandro Garca AvilsSource: Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol. 59 (1996), pp. 14-23Published by: The Warburg InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/751395 .Accessed: 30/10/2014 11:16

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TWO ASTROMAGICAL MANUSCRIPTS OF ALFONSO X) Alejandro Garcia Avilds

A mis maestros, Cristina Gutidrrez-Cortines y Joaquin Yarza Luaces

Um die Mitte des dreizehnten Jahrhunderts erfuhr in Toledo, unter dem Einfluss des K6nigs Alfonso el Sabio, die antike Wissenschaft vom gestirnten Himmel eine eigenttimlich zwiespaltige Wiederbelebung: Der Sternhimmel des Arat musste zugleich der Naturwissen- schaft und dem Aberglauben dienen: griechische Sterntafeln wurden exakt mathematisch korrigiert und daneben Handbuicher rekonstruiert, die den Missbrauch der Sternnamen zu magischen und divinatorischen Zwecken lehrten. Das war freilich nicht altgriechisch, wohl aber quellenecht hellenistisch.

(Aby Warburg, 'Die Wanderungen der antiken G6tterwelt vor ihrem Eintritt in die italien- ische Hochrenaissance', unpublished lecture, G6ttingen, 29 November 1913)

n 1911 Aby Warburg had his first sight of Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana manuscript Reg. lat. 1283, folios 1-36, a richly illustrated astrological codex to which his attention had been drawn by Franz Ehrle and Bartolomeo Nogara.' This

proved to be what remains of a book produced under the supervision of Alfonso X, King of Castile (1252-84). Warburg intended to edit the work in collaboration with his friend Franz Boll, the philologist and historian of astrology, but the project was never completed.2 In the meantime the manuscript was rediscovered independently

* This paper is part of the research for my doctoral thesis, 'La miniatura astrol6gica en los reinos medievales hispainicos (siglos XI-XIII): iconografia y contexto cultural', Universidad de Murcia 1994, under the direction of Dr Joaquin Yarza Luaces (Universidad Aut6noma de Barcelona), to whom I am indebted for his generous help and encouragement. The first part of this thesis, on astrological illustration in the Carolingian tradition and its cultural context, is forthcoming as El tiempo y los astros: Arte, ciencia y religio6n en 1(1 Alta Edad Media. I should like to thank the Vatican Library for granting me permission to consult the astrological manuscripts in their collections in the summer of 1990. Most of this article was written in 1992 with the aid of a Frances A. Yates Research Fellowship from the Warburg Institute, and some of the results of my research were presented at the Director's Work in Progress Seminar. I am indebted especially to Dr Charles Burnett, Dr Kristen Lippincott, Professor Nicholas Mann, Miss Anne Marie Meyer and Miss Anita Pollard for their assistance. Lastly, I am grate- ful to the late Professor Hugo Buchthal, who kindly allowed me to share his room at the Warburg Institute during my stay there, and to Sir Ernst Gombrich, for a long and fascinating conversation on Warburg and Saxl in December 1990.

Frequently cited works: D'Agostino = Alfonso X el Sabio, Astroinagia (MS Reg. lat. 1283a), ed. A. D'Agostino, Naples 1992; Darby = G. O. S. Darby, 'An Astrological Manuscript of Alfonso X', Ph.D. thesis, Harvard University, Cam- bridge, Mass. 1932; Diman and Winget = Alfonso el Sabio, Lapidario and Libro de las formas & ymagenes, ed. R. C. Diman and L. W. Winget, Madison, Wisc. 1980;

Rico y Sinobas = Libros del saber de astronoinia del rey D. Alfonso X de Castilla, ed. M. Rico y Sinobas, 5 vols, Madrid 1863-7.

I A. Warburg, 'Heidnisch-antike Weissagung in Wort und Bild zu Luthers Zeiten', Sitzgungsberichte der Heidel- berger Akadernie der Wissenschaftei, Philosophisch-histor- ische Klasse, xxvi, 1920; repr. in his Gesamnmelte Schriften, ii, Leipzig and Berlin 1932, pp. 487-558, esp. 515-16 n. 3, and 528 n. 2. The discovery was probably made during his visit to Rome early in 1911 to discuss with Adolfo Venturi the arrangements for the forthcoming International Congress of History of Art, at which Aby Warburg was to read his famous lecture on the icono- graphic programme of the Schifanoia Palace (see E. H. Gombrich, Aby Warbi)g: An Intellectual Biography, London 1970, pp. 192, 194). In the discussion of his discovery Warburg referred to the compilation as 'Libro de los [sic] ymagenes', probably a confusion with the title of the other manuscript I deal with in this paper. It is clear from his own words that Warburg saw MS Reg. lat. 1283 for the first time in 1911; however, his interest in it un- doubtedly began earlier, since in the Warburg Archive there is a letter to him dated 10 June 1910, from Bar- tolomeo Nogara, which gives a brief description of the manuscript. I am indebted to Miss Meyer for drawing my attention to the existence of this letter.

2 See E Saxl and H. Meier, Catalogue of Astrological and Mythological Illuminated Manuscripts of the Latin Middle Ages. III. Manuscripts in English Libraries, ed. H. Bober, i, London 1953, p. LX n. 3. The project was interrupted by Warburg's illness, by Boll's death (see the obituary by K. Meister, 'Franz Boll und die Erforschung der antiken Astrologie', NeueJahrbiicher, iii, 1925, pp. 321-30) and by Warburg's own death in 1929.

14

Journal of the WaIMlbg and Couitauld Instituite, Volume 59, 1996


ASTROMAGICAL MANUSCRIPTS 15

by a Spanish scholar, Alfonso Garcia Solalinde,3 and in 1932 one of his doctoral students at Harvard, George Darby, wrote a dissertation on it.4

The manuscript belongs to the final phase of activity of the royal scriptorium of Alfonso X, from 1276 to 1284. This was the period in which the learned monarch devoted his attention to the subjects which most interested him personally,5 result- ing in the production of three encyclopedic collections of works on astronomy and astral magic.6 The first, generally known as the Libros del saber de astronomia,7 comprises fifteen treatises on the construction and use of astronomical instruments.8 The other two compilations are the Libro de las formas et de las ymagenes and the

3 See A. Garcia Solalinde, 'Alfonso X, astr61ogo. Noticia del manuscrito vaticano, Reg. lat. nuim. 1283', Revista de fdlologia espafiola, xiii, 1926, pp. 350-6, where its relationship to the Picatrix is discussed. Solalinde claims to have come across the manuscript in 1916 and seems unaware of Warburg's article of 1920 (as in n. 1).

4 Darby (as in n. *). 5 E. S. Procter, 'The Scientific Works of the Court of

Alfonso X of Castile: The King and his Collaborators', Modern Language Review, xl, 1945, pp. 12-29; idem, Al- fonso X of Castile: Patron of Literature and Learning, Oxford 1951 (repr. Westport, Conn. 1980); G. Menendez Pidal, 'Alfonso X el sabio', Historia general de las literaturas his- pdnicas, Barcelona 1949, pp. 427-46; idem, 'C6mo tra- bajaron las escuelas alfonsies', Nueva revista de filologia hipaiuca,

v, 1951, pp. 363-80; D. Romano, 'Le opere scientifiche di Alfonso X e l'intervento degli ebrei', Oriente e occidente nel inedioevo: filosofia e scienza, Rome 1971, pp. 677-711 (repr. in his De historia judia hispdinica, Barcelona 1991, pp. 147-81, and incorporated in hisLa ciencia hispanojuidia, Madrid 1992, pp. 139-49).

6 The Alfonsine texts in vernacular prose are published in L. Kasten, J. Nitti et al., Concorldances and 7exts of

the Royal Scriptoriumn Mannscripts of Alfonso X el Sabio, Madi- son, Wisc. 1978 (microfiches).

7 The original Alfonsine manuscript is acephalous and the title was devised by its first editori Rico y Sinobas; his choice of astronomnia rather than astrologia (terms which were used interchangeably in the Middle Ages) should be seen in the context of late 19th-century discussions on Spanish nationalism. Previously, the manuscript was entitled Libro del saber de astrologia, which appears in a 16th-century copy (Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional MS 1197, fol. 2r) and in the Italian (more precisely Florentine) translation made in Seville in 1341: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana MS Vat. lat. 8174, incipit 'Questo libro e di sapere di astrologia...', in P. Knecht, I libri castronomiici ldi Alfonso X in una versione fiorentina del riecento, Saragossa 1965. See now, however, a recent transcription in which the title chosen by Rico y Sinobas is recovered: Alfonso X, el Sabio, Text and Concordance of the Biblioteca Apostolica laiticana, MS. 8174, Libro di sapere di astrononmia, ed. J. A. Levi, Madison, Wisc. 1993; cf. also A. J. Cardenas, 'A New Title for the Alfonsine Omnibus on Astronomical Instruments', La Coronica, vii.2, 1980, pp. 172-8. The Rico y Sinobas edition is found wanting when judged by today's philological standards, and Cardenas's long- awaited critical edition, based on a collation of the manuscripts, is to the best of my knowledge still unpublished. In the meantime one must consult his edition of the original Alfonsine manuscript ('A Stud)y and Edition of the Royal Scriptorium Manuscript of El Libro del Saber de Astrologia by Alfonso X, el Sabio', Ph.D. diss., 4 vols, University of Wisconsin 1974), in conjunction with the Italian translation; this is necessary due to the fragmen- tary) state of the original (see A. J. Cardenas, 'Hacia una edici6n critica del Libro del saber de astrologia de Alfonso

X el Sabio: estudio codicol6gico actual de la obra regia (mutilaciones, fechas y motivos)', Homenaje a Pedro Sdinz Rodriguez, ii, Madrid 1986, pp. 111-20). On the first treatise of the compendium, the Libro de la ochava espera ('Book of the Eighth Sphere'), see M. Comes, 'Al-Sufi como fuente del libro de la Ochava espera de Alfonso X', 'Ochava espera' y Astrofisica'. 7ixtos y estudios sobre las fuentes arabes de la astronomia de Alfonso X el Sabio, ed. M. Comes, H. Mielgo and J. Sams6, Barcelona 1990, pp. 11-113; the critical edition by C. Ramboz, 'Alfonso X: Libro de la ochava espera. Edition critique', doctoral thesis, 2 vols, University of Paris XIII 1983, takes insufficient account of modern scholarship. 6 This compendium was thought to have been translated in order to help with preparation of the Alfonsine Tables (Procter, Alfonso X, as in n. 5, p. 10). Julio Samns6, however, has pointed out that: 'la mayoria de los instru- mentos descritos en los Libros del saber no son, estricta- mente, instrumnentos de observaci6n sino instrumnentos de calculo, computadores anal6gicos destinados a resol- ver graficamente problemnas de astronomlnia esf6rica' ('La astrononia de Alfonso X', Investigacion y

ciencia, lxxxix, 1984, pp. 91-103 [95]). Also, there has been much discussion among specialists regarding the question of the Alfonsine origin of the tables, the Latin version of which became the standard text for measuring the movements of the heavenly bodies in the late Middle Ages. Emman- uel Poulle, the editor of the editio priMceps of Venice 1483 (Les tables alphonsines aver les Canons de Jean de Saxe, Paris 1984), has argued in several papers for a French origin of the tables: 'Les tables alphonsines: sont-elles d'AI- phonse X?', De astronoiia Alphoisi regis, Barcelona 1987, pp. 51-69; 'Les tables alphonsines et Alphonse X de Castille', Comiptes-reucdus de I'AcadeInie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Jan.-Mar. 1987, pp. 82-102; 'The Alfon- sine Tables and Alfonso X of Castile', Journal for the Historv of Astronomiy, xix, 1988, pp. 97-113. But several historians dispute this view, favouring an Alfonsine origin: see J. Sams6 and E Castell6, 'An Hypothesis on the Epoch of Ptolemy's Star Catalogue according to the Authors of the Alfonsine Tables', Journal Jbr the Histoy of Astronomy, xix, 1988, pp. 115-20; J. D. North, 'Just Whose were the Alfonsine Tables?', unpublished com- munication submitted to the Sirnposio Internacional de Historia de la Ciencia Arabe (Granada 1992); J. Sams6, 'Las ciencias exactas y fisico-naturales', La vpoca del G(;6ico en la rcltura espaiiola (c. 1220-c. 1480), ed. J. A. Garcia de Cortaizar (Historia de Espafia Menendez Pidal, xvi), Madrid 1994, pp. 553-93, esp. 564-6; idem, 'Las ciencias exactas en Castilla durante la Edad Media', Historia de unia ultura. II. La singularidad de Castilla, ed. A. Garcia Sim6n, Valladolid 1995, pp. 661-89, esp. 674-6. See also the recent assessment of Alfonso's patronage of

astronomical works by 0. Gingerich, 'Alfonso the Tenth as a Patron of Astronomy', Alfonso X of Castile the Learned King, ed. E Mai-quez Villanueva and C. Vega, Cambridge, Mass. 1990, pp. 30-44.


16 ALEJANDRO GARCIA AVILES

compendium of astral magic brought to light by Warburg and Garcia Solalinde.' This latter work, which I shall refer to as the Libro de astromagia,1? is known principally for preserving the only remaining fragment of the Spanish version of the Picatrix." Alfonso d'Agostino, who recently edited the manuscript, pays very little attention to its fortuna; he suggests that it may have been housed in the Royal Chapel of Granada in the late fifteenth century,"2 but I shall show this to be unlikely. As for Roderic Diman and Lynn Winget, the editors of the Libro de las formas et de las ymdgenes, they do not go much beyond repeating the conventional wisdom con- cerning the fortuna of the compilation.'3 The history of these two closely related astromagical manuscripts thus remains to be written.

THE LIBRO DE LAS FORMAS ET DE LAS YMA GENES

The 'Book of the Forms and Images which are in the Heavens' is the most con- troversial of the three Alfonsine compendia-indeed, one celebrated nineteenth- century Spanish scholar came to regard it as spurious." The surviving manuscript of the work, El Escorial, Real Biblioteca MS h-I-16, consists of little more than a synopsis, or tabla, which summarises in some detail the contents of eleven treatises dealing with the influence of heavenly images on human beings and with the magical powers conferred by the stars on certain stones. The magical properties of the stones are described in the tabla, but the discussions of the stones themselves, and of the heavenly images, are lacking. Some chapters can be recovered from other Alfonsine works in which certain of the treatises are also found, particularly the Libro de astromagia, the Liber Razielis and the Lapidario. " The content of other chapters can only be guessed at; for example, in the fourth treatise we read that 'the fourteenth chapter concerns how to avoid harm from bears and wild beasts, and how to gain power over foolish and evil men' (folio 11').

The generic relationship between the Libro de las formas et de las ymd genes and the Alfonsine Lapidario (in reality a collection of lapidaries), together with the presence of some of the same texts in both compilations and, in particular, the mention of an unidentified person referred to as 'Abolays' in the first treatise of both collections,16 has for a long time led scholars to believe that the Lapidario was originally

-'

For complete transcriptions see D'Agostino; Darby; and Kasten, Nitti et al. (as in n. 6), under the microfiche entry 'Picatrix'. to D'Agostino has preferred to refer to the compendium simply as Astromagia', but, in my opinion, 'Libro de astromagia' seems more appropriate, as can be seen by comparison with other known titles of Alfonso's sd- entific works (such as the Libros del saber de astronotnia and the Libro de las forinas et de las y nagenes), cited above. Professor D'Agostino kindly informed me in a recent personal letter that he agrees with me that 'Libro de astromagia' is a very appropriate title, adding that even in an apparently exceptional case such as the Alfonsine compilation known as Lapidario, the original title was in reality Libro de las piedras ('Book of the Stones'). 11 See D. Pingree, 'Between the Gh~iya and Picatrix. I:

The Spanish version', thisJournal, xliv, 1981, pp. 27-56. 12 See D'Agostino, p. 81, who advances this hypothesis

very cautiously, since it is based on the tentative reading of the word 'Granada' in a virtually illegible Arabic in- scription on fol. 8v. ." Diman and Winget, p. i. 14 M. Menendez y Pelayo, La ciencia espafiola, 3rd edn,

iii, Madrid 1887-8, p. 351. 15 On the relationship between the Liber Razielis and the

Libro de las formas see my 'Alfonso X y el 'Liber Razielis':

imaigenes de la magia astral judia en el scriptorium alfonsi', forthcoming, Bulletin of Hispanic Studies, lxxiv. 1, 1997. 16 The identity of Abolays remains a puzzle. On this

problem see J.-H. Nunemaker, 'Index of the Stones in the Lapidary of Alfonso with Identifications in other Lapidaries', Ph.D. diss., University of Wisconsin 1928, p. 5; idem, 'Note on Abolays', Hispanic Review, ii, 1934, pp. 242-6; G. O. S. Darby, 'The Mysterious Abolays', Osiris, i, 1936, pp. 251-9; idem, 'Ibn WahshTya in Medi- aeval Spanish Literature', Isis, xxxiii, 1941-2, pp. 433-8. None of the identifications proposed by these authors is entirely convincing. In my opinion, Abolays is to be identified with Abfi 'A1 al-Khaiyait (on whom see E Sezgin, Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttuns, vii, Frankfurt 1979, pp. 120-1), whose name was changed into 'Al- bolay' in a 14th-century book list (Copenhagen, Royal Library, Gl.Kgl.S. 277, fol. 146r); see A. A. Bjornbo, 'Ein Lehrgang der Mathematik und Astrologie im Mittel- alter', Bibliotheca matheminatica, ser. 3, iv, 1903, pp. 288-90; R. Lemay, 'The Teaching of Astronomy in Medieval Uni- versities, Principally at Paris in the Fourteenth Century', Manuscripta, xx, 1976, pp. 197-217 (210-11); C:. S. E Burnett, 'The Impact of Arabic Science on Western Civi- lisation in the Middle Ages', Bulletin of the British Associ- atioin of Orientalists, ii, 1979-80, pp. 40-51 (50). In some


ASTROMAGICAL MANUSCRIPTS 17

part of the Libro de lasformas; consequently, they were published together in 1881.17 Alfonsine scholars have persisted in this opinion, despite the fact that it was ques- tioned by Moritz Steinschneider in 1893.18 Some have gone even further, claiming not only that the Lapidario is the sole remaining portion of the Libro de las formas, but also that the constituent treatises of the Lapidario are the only items among those listed in the tabla that were actually produced for the compendium. This atti- tude is summed up by J. H. Nunemaker, who states: Any approach to a study of the sources of the Alfonsine Lapidaries must include a con- sideration of their tabla, which purports to be their index. In reality, this tabla is an index for a proposed work of eleven lapidaries, which so far as is known was never written.'9 In reality, the only points in common between the tabla and the Lapidario are those noted by Joan Evans as early as 1922: the correspondence between the second and third treatises of the Lapidario, on the one hand, and the fourth and fifth treatises of the Libro de lasformas et de las ymd genes, on the other.20 By contrast, there are com- pelling factors which point to a separate origin for the two works: above all, the fact that the Lapidario is an early piece, compiled in its entirety when Alfonso was still the Infante of Castile, whereas the prologue to the Libro de las formas indicates that it was begun in 1277 and finished in 1279, five years before his death.

That it was finished has been doubted by the recent editors of the work. Accord- ing to Diman and Winget: 'whether or not these eleven treatises were finished is not known'.2' There are, however, firm indications that the compilation was indeed completed. Some of these have been discussed by Anthony Cirdenas in a recent study.22 First, certain later additions in the margins of the tabla give numerical references from the second treatise onwards; these are most likely indications of the pages on which the corresponding texts begin. Second, indices for Alfonsine works were generally written after the books had been completed, as was common in the Middle Ages. Cirdenas has pointed to the example of the Libros del saber de astronomia, in which the third treatise (the second in the Rico y Sinobas edition) was added once the rest of the compilation had been copied.23 The additional chapter, however, is fully integrated into the index, which shows no sign of having been modified, suggesting that it was written after the treatise had been inserted.24

other manuscripts we find the transcriptions 'Abuali', 'Albuali', 'Aubueli' or 'Albohaly' for Ab 'Ali al-Khaiyait (see E J. Carmody, Arabic Astronomical and Astrological Sciences in Latin Translation. A Critical Bibliography, Berke- ley and Los Angeles 1956, pp. 49-5 1).

1' J. FernAndez Montafia, Lapidario del Rey D. Alfonso X. Cddice original, facs. edn, Madrid 1881. The new facs. edn (Primer Lapidario del Rey Alfonso X el Sabio, Madrid 1982) does not include the Libro de las formas. See also S. Rod- riguez Montalvo, Lapidario, segiin el manuscrito escurialense H.I.15, Madrid 1981. The first person to connect the codices, which are numbered consecutively in the Real Biblioteca de El Escorial, seems to have been J. Rodri- guez de Castro, Biblioteca espaiola, i, Madrid 1781, p. 159. Accordingly, the title which appears on the cover of the Libro de las formas (MS h-I-16) is 'Tabla del libro ilamado Lapidario' ('Index of the Book called the Lapidary').

18 M. Steinschneider, Die hebraischen Uebersetzungen des Mittelalters und die Juden als Dolmetscher, ii, Berlin 1893, p. 980; idem, 'Arabische Lapidarien', Zeitschrift der Deut- schen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft, xlix, 1895, pp. 244-78 (266-8). 19 J. H. Nunemaker, 'In Pursuit of the Sources of the

Alfonsine Lapidaries', Speculum, xiv, 1939, at p. 483. See also A. Garcia Solalinde, Antologia de Alfonso X el Sabio, Madrid 1965, p. 195: 'Varios eran los libros dedicados a

las piedras, pero s61o se Ilegaron a copiar cuatro de los once que anuncia el indice del manuscrito alfonsino.'

20 J. Evans, Magical Jewels of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Particularly in England, Oxford 1922, repr. New York 1976, pp. 38-50. Anthony J. Cardenas has pointed out the existence of 14 chapters in the first treatises of the tabla and the Lapidario in which the subject matter coincides very closely ('Alfonso X's Libro de las formas & de las ymagenes: Facts and Probabilities', Romance Quarterly, xxxiii, 1986, pp. 269-74, esp. 271-2); but bearing in mind that there are 360 chapters in each of the treatises, the relationship is only sporadic.

21 Diman and Winget, p. i; however, at p. xxvii n. 2, they conclude: 'we think that the evidence points to its having been completed and later separated from the table of contents'. 22 Cirdenas, 'Alfonso X's Libro de las formas' (as in

n. 20). See also the edition of the Lapidario ed. M. B. Marifio, Madrid 1968, p. XXIV; Diman and Winget, p. xxvii n. 2; D'Agostino, pp. 36-8.

23 Rico y Sinobas. See Cirdenas's edition (as in n. 7), i, p. cxxv, and ii, p. 264; and idem, 'A Medieval Spanish Collectanea of Astronomical Instruments: An Integrated Compilation', Journal of the Rocky Mountain Medieval and Renaissance Association, i, 1980, pp. 21-8.

24 Cirdenas (as in n. 23), p. 23; idem (as in n. 20), p. 270.


18 ALEJANDRO GARCIA AVILES A third factor is the evidence that the Libro de las formas et de las ymdgenes was

already finished by the time that the Libro de astromagia was compiled." We read in the Picatrix, referring to a certain image of Mars: 'and, God granting, I will speak about it in the future' ('et de ea Deo dante erimus in posterum locuti').26 This phrase is not found in the Ghayat al-tiakfm (the Arabic text on which the Picatrix is based)," but was added in 1256 when the translation was made in the Alfonsine scriptorium. In the Libro de astromagia, however, which was compiled around 1280, it is stated that: 'we spoke about this image in our Libro de las imdgenes' ('fablamos desta ymagen en el nuestro Libro de las imsgenes').28 The reference appears to be to the treatise on talismanic images and the powers conferred on them by the seven planets, by 'Ut arid (Mercury-Hermes?),29 which is the seventh part of the Libro de las formas et de las ymagenes (MS h-I-16, folios 12v-13r). This would suggest that at least this section had been completed, although the exact correspondence of subject-matter cannot be checked since, as was noted above, the descriptions of the images are not included in the tabla.

The final confirmation that the Libro de las formas et de las ymndgenes was actually finished is a reference to the existence of a French version of the text, apparently of the complete work. In the 1373 catalogue of the library of Charles V of France, compiled by Gilles Mallet, the following item appears: 'Thirty-nine paper quires of the book of the forms, figures and images which are in the heavens, translated from Spanish into French by Pierre Levant... by order of my lord, the Duke of Berry.'", The catalogue of the French royal library, commissioned in 1423 by the Duke of Bedford, adds to this entry: 'in which the first quire begins "In the name of the

'5 See now D'Agostino, pp. 36-8. 26 Picatrix. The Latin Version of the Ghaiyat al-Haknm, ed.

D. Pingree, London 1986, p. 66. 27 Ghayat al-Hakfn, ed. H. Ritter, Leipzig and Berlin

1933, p. 111; German tr. H. Ritter and M. Plessner, 'Picatrix'. Das Ziel des Weisen von Pseudo-Magriti, London 1962, pp. 118-19; Spanish tr. M. Villegas, Picatrix. Elfin del sabio y el mejor de los dos medios para avanzar, Madrid 1982, pp. 140-1. 28 Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana MS Vat.

Reg. lat. 1283, fol. 26v. It is not absolutely clear whether the verb 'fablamos' is in the present or past tense; but given the date of the work, I am inclined to think that the author is referring to the past. The words 'e te' which precede 'fablamos' ('e te fablamos', 'and we speak to you') unfortunately do not help to clarify this point. Pingree (as in n. 11, p. 55), has transcribed ' te fablamos'; while D'Agostino (pp. 37, 242) has 'e n6s esto fablamos' ('and we speak about this'); and Darby (p. 19) thinks that it could be a mistake of the copyist, who intended to write 'ante fablamos' ('we spoke previously'). 29 The text is attributed to Mercurius (Hermes) inPica-

trix, iii.3.3 (ed. D. Pingree, London 1986, p. 97), where it is referred to as the 'Book of the Seven Planets'. 'Utarid is the Arabic name for Mercury, and so, as has been pointed out by J. Ruska, Griechische Planetendarstel- lungen in arabischen Steinbiichern, Heidelberg 1919, p. 24, the name 'Utarid ibn Muhammad al-Katib, which appears in some other manuscripts would be a mere 'arab- isation' of Mercury-Hermes: al-K-atib ('the scribe') being the usual characterisation for the Arab Mercury. See also M. Ullmann, Die Natur- und Geheimwissenschaften im Islam, Leiden 1972, pp. 422-3.

30 'Inventaire des livres du roy nostre sire Charles V, estans en son chastel du Louvre, a Paris, en 1373', in J. Barrois, Bibliothique protypographique, ou Librairies des fils du roi Jean, Charles vJean de Bern, Philippe de Bourgogne et

les siens, Paris 1830, p. 85: '486. xxxix cayers en papier, du Livre des formes, figures et ymages qui sont es cieux, translatez d'espagnol en frangois, par Pierre Levant, jadis maistre des pors et passages en la seneschaucie de Beaucaire, du commandement de monseigr. le duc de Berry.' This inventory was compiled by the royal lib- rarian, Gilles Mallet (see his Inventaire ou catalogue des livres de l'ancienne Bibliotheque du Louvre fait en l'annie 1373, Paris 1836, p. 177). See also L. Delisle, Recherches sur la Librairie de Charles V II. Inventaire des livres ayant appartenu aux rois Charles V et Charles VI et a Jean, Duc de Berry, Paris 1907, p. 304 n. 173. Delisle suggests, with- out any solid evidence, that this book may be close to another one from the Duke of Berry's library: 'Un petit livre des images du ciel et du monde, escript, en frangois, de lettre de forme' (p. 251). The latter work is, in fact, Nicole Oresme's Livre du ciel et du nionde (ed. A. D. Menut and A. J. Denomy, Madison 1968). I have found no reference to the Libro de las formas in J.-J. Guiffrey, Inventaires de Jean, duc de Berry (1401-1416), Paris 1894- 6, nor in A. Hiver de Beauvoir, La Librairie de jean duc de Berry au Chateau de Mehun-sur-Yevre, Paris 1860, although among the books on astrology and magic which appear in this catalogue is an interesting reference to 'Deux gros livres de magique escripts en espagnol...' (p. 43, no. 81). Regarding the translator, 'Pierre Levant' is the reading of Barrois; Douet-d'Arcq and Delisle prefer 'Pierre Leraut' (see next note), but the real name of this royal officer was Pierre Lesant, or Lesanti (other variants are Le Santi, Lesenti, or, less probably, Lasanti or Lescuti). He was 'maitre des ports de la senechaussde de Beau- caire' from 1370-1, apparently until his death in 1393; see G. Dupont-Ferrier, Gallia regia, ou itat des officiers roy- aux des bailliages et des sinichaussdes de 1328 a 1515, i, Paris 1942, pp. 302-3, 330, 366. I am indebted to Professor Frangois Avril for this reference.


ASTROMAGICAL MANUSCRIPTS 19 Father and of the Son", and these quires are tied together with a parchment cover'.31 The considerable size of the French translation-thirty-nine quires (cahiers)-leads one to suppose that the original work must indeed have been complete. Further- more, it seems reasonable to assume that the separation of the main body of the Libro de las formas et de las ymagenes from the tabla had something to do with the movements of the manuscript at the time of its translation into French, through the patronage of the Duke of Berry. The incipit quoted in the Duke of Bedford's catalogue does not come from the tabla, but rather corresponds to the phraseology employed by Alfonso to begin the prologues of several of his treatises." The texts of the treatises which made up the Libro de las formas et de las ymagenes might there- fore have been sent to France, while the tabla remained in Spain and ended up in the Escorial library. How the book fell into the hands of the Duke of Berry is a question I shall deal with below.

THE LIBRO DE ASTROMAGIA The 'Book of Astromagic' must have been planned and begun around 1280, during the last years of the Alfonsine scriptorium, since there are several references in it to 'el nuestro Libro de las ymaigenes', a work which, as we have seen, was completed in 1279. The Libro de astromagia, moreover, shares some material with the earlier compilation: its first chapter (folios lr-8v) is parallel to the third one in the Libro de las formas et de las ymagenes, as can be established from the tabla. It is bound in the Vatican Library with a collection of Latin texts, whose titles-4ncerti de templi Ierosolymitani et aliorum Galliae templorum dedicatione, Privilegia universitatis Parisiensis, Processus verbalis visitationis in Domo Dei Parisiis factae etc.33-clearly point to a French origin. This is confirmed by repeated mentions of the 'Ecclesia Fossatensis', the Abbey of Saint-Maur-des-Fosses, near Paris.34

The exact route taken by the Libro de astromagia following the death of Alfonso X is unknown. The manuscript can, however, be shown to have been in France by the

31 Inventaire de la Bibliotheque du roi Charles VI fait au Louvre en 1423 par ordre du rigent Duc de Bedford (with preface by L. Douiet-d'Arcq), Paris 1867, p. 208: '805. Item. xxxix cayers en papier du livre des formes, figures & images qui sont es Cieux, translatez d'espaignol en frangois par Pierre Leraut, jadiz maistre des pors et passaiges en la sendschaussde de Beaucaire, du commandement de monseigneur le duc de Berry. Dont le premier cayer commence "ou nom du Pere & du Filz." & sont touz iceulz cayers liez en une couverture de parchemin. Non prise ... Nihil.' See also Barrois (as in n. 30), p. 85; Delisle (as in n. 30), p. 103; and idem, Le Cabinet des manuscrits de la Bibliotheque Nationale, iii, Paris 1881, p. 143. The entry in the 1423 inventory corresponds to nos 873 and 897 respectively in those of 1411 and 1413.

32 See M. Y. Corona de Ley, 'The Prologue in Castilian Literature between 1200 and 1400', Ph.D. diss., Univer- sity of Illinois 1976; A. J. Cairdenas, 'Alfonso's Scriptorium and Chancery: The Role of the Prologue in Bonding the Translatio studii to the Translatio potestatis', Emperor of Culture. Alfonso X the Learned of Castile and his Thirteenth- Century Renaissance, ed. R. I. Burns, Philadelphia 1990, pp. 90-108.

33 See the Reg. lat. 1283 index in Bernard de Mont- faucon, Bibliotheca bibliothecarum manuscriptorum nova, 2 vols, Paris 1739, i, cols 61-96 (repr. with an indication of the corresponding present-day catalogue numbers in Les Manuscrits de la Reine de Suede au Vatican, Studi e testi, ccxxxviii, Vatican City 1964). See also now E. Pellegrin, Les Manuscrits classiques latins de la Bibliothdque Vaticane,

ii.l: Fonds Patetta etfonds de la Reine, Paris 1978, pp. 159- 60. The manuscript was catalogued as no. 481 by the Benedictine monks of St Maur, whose inventory was published by Montfaucon. The modern catalogue number originates from Domenico Teoli's 'Inventario dei manoscritti reginensi', compiled in the mid-18th century (unpublished; copy in the Vatican Library). 34 See E. Pellegrin, 'Possesseurs de manuscrits latins du fonds de la Reine', Revue d'histoire des textes, iii, 1973, pp. 271-97 (283), repr. in eadem, Bibliotheques retrouvies. Manuscrits, bibliotheques et bibliophiles du Moyen Age et de la Renaissance, Paris 1988, pp. 457-97 (469); L. Auvray, 'Documents parisiens tires de la Bibliothe'que du Vatican (VIIe-XIIIe siecles)', Mimoires de la Societ? de l'Histoire de Paris, xix, 1892, pp. 2-17. Folios 95-6 of the Vatican manuscript come from the Abbey of St Remi in Rheims (Pellegrin, Bibliotheques retrouvies, p. 465). Folios 66, 70-2 and 145 are attributed to the Abbey of Fleury by E M. Carey, 'De scriptura Floriacensi', Ph.D. diss., Harvard University 1923 (see M. Mostert, The Library of Fleury. A Provisional List of Manuscripts, Hilversum 1989, pp. 280- 1). Folios 92-4, which currently constitute MS Reg. lat. 1283b (since they were separated by Franz Ehrle in 1897, as stated on the cover leaves of MS Reg. lat. 1283), are also probably from Fleury: see E. Pellegrin, 'La tradition des textes classiques latins a l'abbaye de Fleury- sur-Loire', Revue d'histoire des textes, xiv-xv, 1984-5, pp. 155-67 (63) (now in her Bibliotheques retrouvies, pp. 285- 97 [293]).


20 ALEJANDRO GARCIA AVILES late fourteenth century. For in the same 1373 catalogue of the library of Charles V which mentioned the French translation of the Libro de las formas et de las ymdgenes, the following entry is also found: 'A book of astronomy, which seems to be of the Ars notoria, written in Spanish, perfectly decorated with figures and with fine col- ours of Bolognese illumination.'"5 In the 1411 and 1413 inventories of the library of books on astronomy which Charles V housed in the Louvre, information was added to this entry which confirms that the manuscript referred to is indeed our Alfon- sine codex. It is said to be made up of 'five quires, of which the first begins with a rubric on the second folio: "estas son las figuras"; and the last with "ocio aniello de mercurio"'.36 This description corresponds to the Libro de astromagia in its present form, in which the incipit 'estas son las figuras' occurs on the second folio37 and 'otro anillo de Mercurio' ('another ring of Mercury'-the French scribe misread 'otro' as 'ocio') on the last (folio 36r). The original ordering of the compendium, which can be deduced from a paragraph on folio 25r,3s must have been changed before the manuscript reached the library of Charles V. In that ordering the last section dealt with the moon. The fact that the surviving pages of the Libro de astromagia include a 'Libro de la Luna' (folios 11r-24v) would indicate that the text part of the compilation was completed, even though some of the illustrations remained unfinished.

FORTUNA OF THE MANUSCRIPTS We have no knowledge of any other document that bears witness to the fortuna of the manuscript of the Libro de astromagia, or, for that matter, of the Libro de las formas et de las ymdgenes, between Alfonso's death in 1284 and Gilles Mallet's catalogue in 1373. It is reasonable to assume that the Duke of Berry's interest in Alfonsine works, borne out by his commissioning of the translation of the Libro de las formas, might have extended to the Libro de astromagia; but we have no solid information on how the two manuscripts could have come into the possession of the French royal family. Nevertheless, it is worth noting the close ties between Jean de Berry and Joan I of Aragon, who became brothers-in-law following Joan I's marriage to Violante de Bar.39 Correspondence between the French nobleman and the Aragon- ese monarch reveals a common taste for astrological literature (as well as certain other kinds of literature) and a passion for collecting books, some of which they sent to each other.40 An example of their shared interest in astrology is a letter

35 See Barrois (as in n. 30), p. 176: 'Livre d'astronomie, qui semble estre de Arte notoria, en espagnol, tres parfaitement bien figure et de bonnes couleurs d'enluminure de Boulogne'. For the Ars notoria or 'notory art', which seeks to gain knowledge from or in communion with God by invocation of angels, mystic figures and magical prayers, see L. Thorndike, A History of Magic and Experimental Science, 8 vols, New York 1923-58, ii, chap. XLIX, and iii, pp. 10, 21.

36 'Un livre d'astronomie, qui semble estre de Arte notoria, escript en espagnol, de lettre en forme, a deux coulombes, tres parfaitement bien figurd, et de bonnes couleurs d'enluminure de Boulougne, et contient en tout cinq cayers, dont le premier commence, au IIe foillet en rouge lettre: "estas son las figuras...", et ou derrenier "ocio aniello de mercurio...". Couvert d'une pele de parchemin': Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, respectively MS Fr. 2700, no. 863 (1411) and MS Fr. 9430, no. 887 (1413); quoted by Delisle (as in n. 30), ii, p. 117, no. 714; idem (as in n. 31), p. 147; Darby, p. 5. See also La Librairie de Charles V, ed. E Avril and J. Lafaurie, exhib. cat. (Bibliotheque Nationale), Paris 1968; and recently D. Bloch, 'La forma- tion de la Bibliotheque du Roi', Histoire des bibliotheques

frangaises. I: Les bibliotheques mddievales, du VIe siecle a 1530, Paris 1989, pp. 311-31; and S. Balayd, La Biblio- theque Nationale des origines a 1800, Geneva 1988, pp. 5- 10. 37 The incipit 'estas son las figuras' appears not only on

the second folio but at the beginning of every page of the first treatise (in the present order); this work deals with the figures of the 'grados que suben en los signos', that is, the paranatellonta, or constellations that rise at the same time as the signs of the zodiac.

38 See D'Agostino, pp. 226-8 (text) and pp. 45-8 (com- mentary). 39 R. Olivar Bertrand, Bodas reales entre Francia y la

Corona de Aragdn, Barcelona 1947, p. 179. 40 F de Bofarull y Sans, 'Antiguos y nuevos datos refe-

rentes al bibli6filo frances Juan de Francia, Duque de Berry', Revista de ciencias hist6ricas, v, 1887, pp. 22-60; see also A. Rubi6 i Lluch, 'Joan I humanista i el primer periode de l'humanisme catal', Estudis Universitaris Cata- lans, x, 1917-18 (published 1919), pp. 1-117 (8-9). In tracing the route taken by the Libro de astromagia from Spain to France, it should be borne in mind that the Duke of Berry was not the only member of the French


ASTROMAGICAL MANUSCRIPTS 21 from Joan I to Jean de Berry in 1388, asking the duke to grant permission for the master astrologer, Guillem Lunell, to travel from Paris to the court of Aragon.4 Charles V is said to have held astrologers in high regard and to have governed his personal life in accordance with their recommendations.42 Likewise, in the court of Joan I, the astrologer was no mere ornamental figure, as is demonstrated by the fact that the Aragonese king refused to fix the date of his marriage to Violante de Bar until he had consulted the astrologer Dalmau Ses Planes: in 1379 the monarch asked him which days and months between February and April would be most pro- pitious for the duchess to enter the principality of Catalonia and to celebrate her wedding.43

We do not know whether the close relationship between Joan I and the French monarchy was adversely affected by the famous prophecy attributed to Francesc Eiximenis, that in 1400 there would be only one king ruling the world and that this would be the king of France.44 Joan I was so disturbed by this that he sent a mes- senger to Eiximenis telling him to refrain from making such pronouncements. He implied, however, that the matter would be viewed in a more favourable light if it should prove that the prophecy was founded on sound astronomical observations: If by chance [Eiximenis] refuses to obey, on the ground that what he has said is what he has discovered through the art of astronomy, we would like you to tell him to come into our presence in complete security and freedom, so that he can demonstrate to us the con- clusions of the judgement made according to this art, since Divine Providence is superior to everything, and every Catholic prince must subordinate himself to it.45

royal family with whom the Aragonese monarch cor- responded about his love of books. There are also the letters between Joan I and King Charles VI of France; and we should, for instance, give some thought to the controversy over whether it was Abraham Cresques's Catalan Atlas which was given to Charles VI by Joan I, as some scholars have maintained (for a discussion of this question see E. Avril et al., Manuscrits enlumines de la Pd- ninsule ibirique, Paris 1982, p. 98).

41 A. Rubi6 i Lluch, Documents per l'historia de la cultura catalana mig.eval, i, Barcelona 1908, p. 8; idem (as in n. 40), p. 14. Other relevant information is also available. For example, in both the French and Aragonese courts at this time, astronomy was included in medical training: see R. Lemay (as in n. 16), pp. 200-4; A. Cardoner y Planas, Historia de la medicina a la Corona de Aragd 1162- 1479, Barcelona 1973, p. 209; idem, 'La medicina astro- 16gica durante el siglo XIV en la Corona de Arag6n', Actes du IXe Congres International d'Histoire des Sciences, Barcelona and Paris 1960, pp. 341-6; L. Comenge i Fer- rer, La medicina en el Reino de Aragdn. Siglo XIV, Valladolid 1974, pp. 76-81. See also J. Chabais (with the collaboration of A. Roca and X. Rodriguez), L'Astronomia de Jacob ben David Bonjorn (Arxiu de les Seccions de Ciencies, civ), Barcelona 1992, pp. 23-8. On Charles V's interest in astrology see C. Jourdain, 'Nicolas Oresme et les astrologues de la cour de Charles V', Revue des questions historiques, xviii, 1875, pp. 136-59 (also in idem, Excur- sions historiques et philosophiques a travers le moyen dge, Paris 1888, repr. Frankfurt am Main 1966); Thorndike (as in n. 35), iii, pp. 585-9; and E. Laird, 'Astrology in the Court of Charles V of France, as Reflected in Oxford, St. John's College, ms. 164', Manuscripta, xxxiv, 1990, pp. 167-76. 42 S. de Phares, Recueil des plus celebres astrologues et

quelques hommes doctes, ed. E. Wickersheimer, Paris 1929, p. 228: 'I1 eut en merveilleuse recommandacion les as- trologiens et se gouverna par eulx'.

41 '...quals dies e quant dels mesos de febrer, marg, e abril serien bons a entrar la duquesa en el principat de Catalunya, e axi mateix a fer bodes': Barcelona, Archivo de la Corona de Arag6n, Reg. Y, 766, fol. 50, quoted by Rubi6 i Lluch (as in n. 41); see also S. Sanpere y Miquel, Las costumbres catalanas en tiempo de Juan I, Gerona 1878, part 3; and J. M. Roca, Johan I d'Aragd (Memorias de la Real Academia de Buenas Letras, xi), Barcelona 1929, pp. 363-415 ('Johan I i les supersticions'). A large number of works on astrology and magic had been accumu- lated in the Aragonese royal collection, as can be seen from the inventory of books of King Marti I of Aragon (d. 1410): see J. Mass6 y Torrents, 'Inventari dels bens mobles del rey Marti d'Arag6', Revue hispanique, xii, 1905, pp. 413-590; and also Chabais (as in n. 41), pp. 28-37. 44 E Eiximenis, Dotzd del chrestid, chap. 466, entitled

'Que han dit alguns dels regnes presents e de lur durada e de novell imperi' ('What some people have said about the present kingdoms and their duration, and on the new empire'): '... Dien encara que, a?6 fet, tota potestat reial cessarai en lo m6n, sin6 solament la casa de Franga, qui durarai llongament...' (Rubi6 i Lluch, as in n. 40, p. 18 n. 2). See also J. Guadalajara Medina, Las profecias del Anticristo en la Edad Media, Madrid 1996, pp. 206-16 (212). Pere Bohigas, however, points out that people who denounced Eiximenis's prophecy cannot be referring to this chapter, since, as stated in its title, Eiximenis only reproduces prophecies current in his own time (this is further demonstrated by the fact that he devotes the following chapters, 467-72, to denying them): see P Bohigas i Balaguer, 'Profecies catalanes dels segles XIV i XV. Assaig bibliografic', Butlleti de la Biblioteca de Cata- lunya, vi, 1925, pp. 24-49 (35-7); and also J. M. Pou i Marti, Visionarios, beguinos y fraticelos catalanes (siglos XIII- XV), 2nd edn, Madrid 1991, pp. 291-2. 45 'Si por ventura [Eiximenis] se resistiera a obedecer

la orden basindose en que lo dicho lo ha encontrado por arte de astronomia, nos place que le digaiis venga a


22 ALEJANDRO GARCIA AVILES Joan I inherited a noteworthy collection of works on astronomy and astrology

from his father, Pere el Cerimoni6s, whose interest in those subjects is well known.46 Since Sancho IV of Castile, the son of Alfonso X, did not display a particular interest in the astrological work of his father,47 it seems possible that the manuscripts produced in the Alfonsine scriptorium may have been dispersed and that some may have reached the neighbouring Aragonese court of Pere el Cerimoni6s. This is precisely what happened in the case of 'Ah Abenragel's Libro conplido en los iudizios de las estrellas.4" After Joan I came into possession of Pere's library, he could have given certain manuscripts to Jean de Berry, with whom he was connected by both shared interests and personal ties, and other volumes could have been lent to him for the purpose of translation.49 Most of the Duke of Berry's books were later transferred to the royal library of the Louvre, where they were inventoried and described. As was mentioned above, only a detailed plan of the Libro de las formas et de las ymdagenes has survived. Since the publication of the tabla by Fernindez Montafia in 1881, no scholar, to my knowledge, has thrown any light on the whereabouts of the actual work or of the French version commissioned by the Duke of Berry.

Fortunately, however, the subsequent route taken by the Libro de astromagia can be traced with only one significant interruption. There is no entry corresponding to the work in the inventory of books in the Louvre belonging to Charles VI, compiled by Garnier de Saint-Yon in 1423, which seems to indicate that the manuscript was no longer part of the royal collection at the Louvre by this time.50 In 1425, the astronomy library of the Louvre passed to the Duke of Bedford, who transferred it

nuestra presencia en completa seguridad y en toda liber- tad para que nos demuestre las conclusiones del juicio que segun dicha arte ha hecho, pues sobre todas las cosas esta la Divina providencia a la que todo principe cat61lico ha de someterse.' Letter from Joan I dated 17 Nov. 1391: Barcelona, Archivo de la Corona de Arag6n, Reg. 1962, fol. 3, tr. Sanpere (as in n. 43), p. 167 n. 1. See also P Bohigas, 'Prediccions i profecies en les obres de Fra Francesc Eiximenis', Franciscalia, Barcelona 1928, pp. 23-38 (now in his Aportaci6 a l'estudi de la literatura catalana, Montserrat 1982, pp. 94ff, esp. 107-8). On the excuses offered by Eiximenis and the exchange of letters in this respect, see R. Tasis,Joan I, el rei caqador i music, Barcelona 1959, p. 212.

46 See J. M. Millis Vallicrosa, Las tablas astron6micas del rey D. Pedro el Ceremonioso, Madrid and Barcelona 1962, pp. 123-4; J. Sams6, 'Alfonso X y los origenes de la astrologia hispinica', in Estudios sobre historia de la ciencia drabe, ed. J. Vernet, Barcelona 1980, pp. 81-114; Chabas (as in n. 41), pp. 16-23. 47 The traditional view of Sancho's very limited literary

patronage must, however, be reconsidered in light of R. P. Kinkade, 'Sancho IV: Puente literario entre Alfonso X y Don Juan Manuel', PMLA, lxxxvii, 1972, pp. 1039-51 (I thank Professor Alan Deyermond for this reference).

48 A copy of the Libro conplido en los iudizios de las estrellas was in Pere IV's library in 1359 and was translated into Catalan in 1386: see J. Vernet, 'Tradici6n e innovaci6n en la ciencia medieval', Oriente e occidente nel medioevo: filosofia e scienze, Rome 1971, p. 751, now in his Estudios sobre historia de la ciencia medieval, Barcelona 1979, p. 183. It has further been shown that the treatise on astrology by Bartolomeu de Tresbens, commissioned by Pere el Cerimoni6s, is a summary of books IV and V of the Libro conplido: see Bartolomeu de Tresbens, Tractat de astrologia, ed. J. Vernet and D. Romano, Barcelona 1957-8. Abenragel's manual seems to have been translated into French at the court of Charles V: see De Phares (as in n. 42), p. 228. Gerold Hilty's edition of the Spanish version

comprises only the first five chapters in the Arabic version; see Aly Abenragel, El libro conplido en los iudizios de las estrellas, ed. G. Hilty, Madrid 1954. Later, Guy Beaujouan found the eighth chapter of the Spanish version in the library of the Cathedral of Segovia, MS B 388, olim 115 (15th century): see his 'Manuscrits scien- tifiques medievaux de la Cathedrale de Segovie',Actes du XI? Congres Internacional d'Histoire des Sciences, iii, Warsaw 1968, pp. 15-18 (now in his Science midievale d'Espagne e d'alentour, Aldershot 1992). This chapter has been edited recently by L. M. Vicente Garcia ('La astrologia en el cris- tianismo y en la literatura medieval castellana. Edici6n de la octava parte inedita del Libro conplido en los juyzios de las estrellas', Ph.D. diss., UCLA 1989), but his study is unreliable: even a later 17th-century copy of it seems to have escaped his notice (Vatican City, Biblioteca Apos- tolica Vaticana MS Barb. lat. 4363, for which see H. G. Jones, Hispanic Manuscripts and Printed Books in the Bar- berini Collection, i, Vatican City 1978, p. 189). Finally, the sixth chapter of the Spanish version is partially preserved in Valladolid, Colegio de Santa Cruz MS 253, olim 78 (14th century); see the description by M. N. Alonso Cor- tes, Catalogo de manuscritos de la Biblioteca de Santa Cruz, Valladolid 1976, pp. 196-8, and also C. Faulhaber and J. K. Nitti in La Cor6nica, xi.2, 1983, p. 290; but they all seem unaware that the discovery was made by Beaujouan (Annuaire 1967-68 de l'Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes. IVe section: sciences historiques et philologiques, p. 352). 49 On the documented gift of a 'book of Marco Polo' from Joan I to Jean de Berry see De Bofarull y Sans (as in n. 40), p. 44 n. 2 and p. 53. 50 The catalogue is reproduced with a preface by L.

Douet-d'Arcq in the Inventaire de la Bibliotheque du roi Charles VI fait au Louvre en 1423 par ordre du regent duc de Bedford, Paris 1867.


ASTROMAGICAL MANUSCRIPTS 23 to England in 1429.5' The collection began to be dispersed when the duke died in 1435.

We find the Libro de astromagia again in the second half of the sixteenth century,52 on the shelves of the bibliophile Paul Petau.5" Some folios have annotations by the French humanist Pierre Daniel d'Orldans,54 from whose collection came several of the manuscripts which now make up the codex containing the Libro de astromagia in the Vatican Library.55 Certain sections of this codex were acquired for Petau by Claude Fauchet (whose name appears on folio 112v').56 In common with other humanists of his time,57 Petau did not respect the integrity of medieval manuscripts and was in the habit of cutting up those in his collection in order to construct new ones according to his own whim. This would explain the present state of the codex: a collection of manuscripts from various sources, which Petau, for reasons that are no longer apparent, put together as one.

After the death of Paul Petau, his collection passed to his son Alexandre,"5 who, in 1650, sold some 15,000 books-among them the Libro de astromagia-to Queen Christina of Sweden, through the good services of Isaac Vossius.59 The possessions of the queen travelled with her to Rome, where she settled in exile after her ab- dication and public conversion to Roman Catholicism in 1655.60 Her collection of manuscripts was incorporated in the Vatican Library after the accession of Pope Alexander VIII (1689-91).61 And it is there that the manuscript of the Libro de astromagia lay unnoticed until its recovery for scholarship by Aby Warburg in 1911.

UNIVERSIDAD DE MURCIA

51 Delisle (as in n. 30), pp. 138; Bloch (as in n. 36), p. 312.

52 See Pellegrin (as in n. 33); and also A. D'Agostino, 'El 'Libro de la maigica de los signos', in his II 'Libro sulla magia dei segni' ed altri studi di filologia spagnola, Brescia 1979, pp. 21-64. 53 Manuscripts belonging to Paul Petau can be ident-

ified by a catalogue number in the top right-hand corner of the first page, comprising a letter and two numbers. The manuscript of the Libro de astromagia has the press mark 'A44' in this position (Pellegrin, as in n. 33, p. 24). 54 Pellegrin (as in n. 33), p. 160. 55 The library of Pierre d'Orleans is known to have

been divided among Paul Petau and Jacques Bongars: L. Jarry, 'Une correspondance litteraire au XVI siecle. Pierre Daniel et les drudits de son temps', Mimoires de la societd archdologique et historique de l'Orlianais, xv, 1875, pp. 343-431; H. Hagen, Etude sur

P. Daniel, Orleans 1876

(1st edn Berne 1873, in German). 56 Pellegrin (as in n. 33), pp. 24, 160. 57 See E. Pellegrin, 'Membra disiecta Floriacensia',

Bibliotheque de lEcole des chartes, cvii, 1959, pp. 5-56 (5)

(now in her Bibliotheques retrouvies, as in n. 34, pp. 159- 210 [159]).

58 On Paul and Alexandre Petau's library see K. A. de Meyier, Paul en Alexandre Petau en de geschiedenis van hun handschriften, Leiden (E. J. Brill) 1947 (Dissertationes in- augurales Batavae ad res antiquas pertinentes, v). 59 I am indebted to the Prefect of the Vatican Library, P. Leonard E. Boyle O.P., for clarification of this matter. On the figure of Isaac Vossius as a bibliophile see F. F. Blok, Contributions to the History of Isaac Vossius's Library, Amsterdam and London 1974.

60 C. Callmer, Kdnigin Christina, ihre Bibliothekare und ihre Handschriften. Beitrdge zur europiischen Bibliotheksgeschichte (Acta Bibliothecae Regiae Stockholmensis, xxx), Stock- holm 1977, pp. 217-34. 61 J. Bignami Odier, 'Le fonds de la Reine a la Biblio-

theque Vaticane', Collectanea Vaticana in honorem Anselmi Albareda, i (Studi e testi, ccxix), Vatican City 1962, pp. 159-89.


Article Contentsp. 14p. 15p. 16p. 17p. 18p. 19p. 20p. 21p. 22p. 23

Issue Table of ContentsJournal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol. 59 (1996), pp. 1-356Front MatterThe Knot of the Heavens [pp. 1-13]Two Astromagical Manuscripts of Alfonso X [pp. 14-23]Giotto's Allegories of Justice and the Commune in the Palazzo della Ragione in Padua: A Reconstruction [pp. 24-47]Aristotle for the Layman: Sense Perception in the Poetry of Ausis March [pp. 48-60]The Crucified Monk [pp. 61-102]New Findings about Andrea Mantegna: His Son Ludovico's Post-Mortem Inventory (1510) [pp. 103-118]The Image of Alexander VI and Cesare Borgia in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries [pp. 119-129]Britannia and Melita: Pseudomorphic Sisters [pp. 130-147]The Florentine entrata of Joanna of Austria and Other Entrate Described in a German Diary [pp. 148-173]Carolus Scribanius's Observations on Art in Antwerp [pp. 174-204]The Changing Image of Gustavus Adolphus on German Broadsheets, 1630-3 [pp. 205-244]A Private Homage to Galileo. Anton Domenico Gabbiani's Frescoes in the Pitti Palace [pp. 245-273]NotesAn 'Early Christian' Terracotta Altar [pp. 274-279]Elkanah's Gift: Texts and Meaning in the Bury Bible Miniature [pp. 279-285]The Vision of St Anthony on a Thebaid Panel at Christ Church, Oxford [pp. 286-294]Erasmus on William Grocyn and Ps-Dionysius: A Re-Examination [pp. 294-303]The Creation of Adam: A Detail in Mantegna's Madonna della Vittoria [pp. 303-304]Some Misdated Letters of Pietro Aretino [pp. 304-314]Henry VIII's Illuminated 'Great Bible' [pp. 315-324]The Fortuna of Juan Gins de Seplveda's Translations of Aristotle and of Alexander of Aphrodisias [pp. 325-332]The Iconography of Velzquez's Aesop [pp. 332-337]

Back Matter [pp. 339-355]

Alejandro Garcia Aviles-Two Astromagical Manuscripts of Alfonso X

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